Rudic:"HaBaWaBaimprovesathletesandhelpswaterpolo"
The Croatian legend emphasises the importance of Waterpolo Development's project: "It produces more dynamic and intelligent players"
Ratko Rudic gave a long interview to the Croatian portal Germanijak.hr in which he retraces his entire career, from the beginning to the last adventure as coach of Pro Recco, and talks about coaching in 21st century sport. In the article by Bartul Covic, Rudic also talks again about HaBaWaBa, the project by Waterpolo Development which he is co-founder and councillor of, calling it "one of the best waterpolo projects in the world".
“We have been organizing the Festival for 14 years and now it is present all over the world. Greece, Spain, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Belarus, everywhere. It is our way of educating young players who are organized into three age groups, U9, U11 and U13 (10, U12 and U14 in 2022, ndr). In the pre-adolescent period, players have the best ability to accept coordination and memorize movements. What they learn at that age remains with them for a lifetime. With the new rules of the game - which we have organized in a way that develops fundamental skills - we have got a fantastic production of players”.
Rudic also recalls how the HaBaWaBa rules are designed to foster the technical development of the little players. "Everything is adjusted to the age, the size of the ball, the goal. We do not allow contact play, we want them to move in an attack in a way that avoids the opponent, etc. We are creating coordination that will help them later. After the age of 13, they enter a normal process with all the usual rules, where there is stronger contact, but they have this advantage because they know how to move very well and because they have coordination that others do not have. During this period, they can really master biomechanics, learn incredibly fast, improve speed, coordination and cognitive features of the game, understand numerical advantages etc. Later, it helps them to have a good view and understanding of the game, which is often a problem for seniors as well”.
The Croatian legend cites a few examples of how HaBaWaBa has helped some players to improve. “For example in 2019 Greece won the Junior World Championships, and more than half of the team came to them from HaBaWaBa. We organize workshops and seminars for coaches where we suggest a certain way of working with children. I am also on the FINA Water Polo Development Committee where we have published a handbook called ‘Swim and play the ball’. It is intended for coaches who have not learned elsewhere how to work with children aged eight, nine. We gave them a lot of material in hand, along with videos. Water polo, like any sport, is developing, there are new movements, something is being thown away and new things come. We apply all these methods to children and I think it is one of the best waterpolo projects that exists in the world. Covid prevented us a bit, but we have 180 teams, there is a lot of interest. Since water polo is not a massive sport, it is a number which deserves respect, and our work gives results”.
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